Ashes of a Lost Dream
by SpongeMonkey
Summary: Harry is captured over the summer holidays. While his friends search for him, Harry is tortured both physically and mentally. He fights back with a vengence, but will his grief for Sirius make it easier for Voldemort to break him? Please R&R Warning: Oot
1. The Capture

            The large black dog ran through the forest. Harry rushed after it, trying to catch up. Just as he was sure the dog was going to outrun him, it stopped and turned to face him. Only it wasn't a dog anymore. It was a tall man with long black hair and a gaunt face. He smiled and reached out to Harry, but no matter how fast the he ran, the man never got any closer. Harry cried out to him. The man opened his mouth and said "Get up, boy!" 

            Harry's eyes snapped open. He wasn't in a forest, he was in his bedroom at number four Privet Drive and the person who had awakened him was "Aunt Petunia?"

Petunia Dursley was standing over Harry's bed, fully dressed and holding the car keys. Her narrow, horsy face was illuminated by the soft glow of the street lamps shining in through the window.

Harry rolled over to glance at the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. (It was one of the few things in the room that hadn't been destroyed by his cousin) The digits read 1:00 AM.

"Get up!" Aunt Petunia repeated, now sounding slightly impatient. "Why?" asked Harry. "What's the matter?" 

"I'll explain it later," his aunt snapped. "Now get up and meet me in the kitchen." She waited until Harry was completely out of bed before leaving the room.

Harry headed down the stairs, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He went as quietly as possible, so as not to wake anyone. When he reached the kitchen, Aunt Petunia was waiting for him. She put a finger to her lips and beckoned for him to follow her. The two of them slipped out the front door and into the car. Harry, now thoroughly confused watched as his aunt put the keys in ignition and started the engine. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Harry ventured to ask where they were going. Aunt Petunia seemed to consider this before replying.

"To meet someone. A friend of yours." 

"Which one?"

"That tall red haired boy."

"At one o' clock in the morning?"

She glared at him and said no more. Harry fidgeted with his wand a bit and gave a start when after about fifteen minutes Aunt Petunia said, 

"What was your dream about?" Harry looked up at her, surprised. She had never asked him about his dreams before. As far as he knew, she knew nothing about him, let alone his nightmares. He hesitated. This was, after all, a very personal subject.

"It was about my godfather, Sirius," he said at last. "He kept calling to me, but I couldn't reach him." Ever since Sirius had died the previous year, these dreams had been becoming more and more frequent.

Harry glanced up at his aunt to see her reaction and for a moment he could have sworn that a malevolent glint had appeared in her eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

"He died, didn't he?" Harry merely nodded and looked out the window.

They were no longer in Little Whinging, but somewhere in the country. Harry was about to tell Aunt Petunia that this wasn't the way to Ron's house, when the car stopped. The radio clock read 1:56AM. 

"All right, we're here. Get out." Harry climbed out of the front seat wondering what was going on. He heard his aunt's car door slam and he started over to her, when something abruptly hit him hard in the chest and he collapsed, every part of his body searing in pain.

Then as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped. Gasping for breath, Harry looked up and saw someone staring down at him, laughing. But it wasn't Petunia Dursley, he saw towering above him. It was someone completely different. 

It had bee three months since Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange but she still looked the same as ever.

"You haven't changed, a bit, Harry Potter," Bellatrix sneered at him. "Still so foolishly trusting."  Harry slowly began to stand up, not taking his eyes off the death eater. 

"You!" he growled through clenched teeth. Hatred welled up inside him as he remembered Sirius. He wanted to attack to kill her for what she'd done, but all he could do was glare. At last he managed to spit out "Where is my aunt?"

"She's a little tied up at the moment," was the mocking reply. Harry's heart was pounding. What if Bellatrix had hurt Aunt Petunia and left her in a closet somewhere? What if she was already dead? Panic rising in his chest he began to run back towards the village.

"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" Bellatrix called after him. "Impedimenta!" Harry was blasted off his feet and before he could get back up, Bellatrix had positioned herself in front of him, her wand pointed directly at his face.

"You better not have hurt her!" he snarled. The death eater smiled in a very unpleasant way.

"If I were you boy," she said softly. "I'd worry less about that mudblood and more about myself." She raised her wand and everything went black.


	2. Petunia's Choice

            Petunia Dursley sat in the driver's seat of her husband's car, trying to think rationally. After she'd heard the woman leave with Harry, she had cut the ropes binding her with one of her husband's drills that he always left in the trunk and managed to kick the lid open. 

            Now she was driving back to her house to do the only thing left she could think of. She was going over the speed limit, but that didn't matter now. When she reached home, she leapt out of the car, not bothering to shut off the motor and ran inside. Petunia rushed up the stairs to Harry's bedroom and threw open the door.

            Normally the sight of her nephew's school books lying open on the floor would have sent her into a frenzy, but now she ignored them as she stepped past his bed to the desk at the other end of the room. She picked up the only writing utensil in sight, a feather quill and began to scribble a note on a spare piece of parchment. 

            A soft hoot told her where the owl was. She unlatched the cage and tried to give it the note. It only nipped at her and turned away stubbornly. 

After several failed attempts to persuade the bird, Petunia was running out of ideas. Then out of the blue a most ludicrous thought came to mind. "No," she thought. It couldn't possibly work. But there was nothing else to do and time was running short. Thinking she must be insane she took a deep breath.

"Look, I know you probably haven't the slightest clue what I'm saying, but Harry is in trouble and I need you to take this to someone who can help." The owl simply stared at her shrewdly. 

Petunia felt very foolish indeed. What made her think that this animal could understand her? She was about to leave when the owl hooted quietly, took the note and flew out the open window. She watched dazedly as it vanished into the distance. "I hope this works."


	3. Prisoner

Harry awoke to find himself lying on a cold stone floor with no memory of how he got there. He sat up and felt his head throb painfully. With a soft groan he got to his feet and squinted through the dark in an attempt to get a better look at his surroundings. 

From what he could see, he was standing in the center of a rather large stone chamber. The only light came from the green flame torches lining the walls and in each corner of the chamber there stood a statue of an enormous serpent about to strike. Their ruby encrusted eyes glittered in the torchlight, giving the rather eerie impression that they might spring to life at any moment. 

Harry took a step back and as he did so, he realized that there was nothing to keep him from escaping. No bars or walls to stop him from leaving the center of the room. This worried him a little. Why would his captors be so careless? Feeling more than a little apprehensive, Harry reached inside his pocket and discovered it was empty.

"Looking for this?" Harry whirled around and saw Lucius Malfoy leaning casually against the wall, twirling Harry's wand. "You didn't really expect us to let you keep it did you? Really now, Potter. You aught to know us better than that," he smirked, walking towards the middle of the chamber. He was wearing his death eater's mask, but took it off when he reached Harry.

"So, Potter, still having funny dreams? Bella told me all about it." Harry's hands balled into fists as Lucius began to circle him.

"Missing your godfather?" he sneered. "Trying to cope with the sadness? Or maybe the guilt? It was, after all your fault-"

"Shut up!" Harry yelled. He lunged at Malfoy. Suddenly there was a loud ZAP and he was thrown back as if pushed by some invisible force. He hit the floor, twitching violently in pain before lying still and gasping for breath, his face pressed against the cold stone floor.

"Ah, I must have put my finger on it," Malfoy said, studying his fingernails. "I wouldn't recommend doing that again, Potter. Energy cells can be powerful and I doubt the dark lord would be very happy if it killed you before he had a chance to." 


	4. Hermione's Discovery

            "So he hasn't written back to you either?" Hermione Granger asked her friend Ron Weasly over the telephone. 

"Nope," he replied sounding unconcerned. "That's not like Harry," Hermione said nervously, twirling the cord around her finger. "Listen, Hermione," Ron said calmly. "Harry's got a lot to deal with right now. Just give him some time. He'll come around."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Course, I am." 

Hermione snorted.  

"Look, I'd better go. I'm not supposed to be using dad's phellytone-"

"Telephone."

"Whatever. Later Hermione."

"Bye, Ron." Hermione sighed and hung up the phone. Ron was right. Harry had been through a lot lately, but still- She jumped as something tapped against her window.

"Hedwig!" She leapt up, eagerly to let the owl in. Hedwig hopped onto the bed and dropped a note in Hermione's open hand.

She unfolded it and felt her excitement drain away as she realized it wasn't Harry's handwriting. But as she began to read her heartbeat quickened.

To Whom It May Concern,

Harry Potter may be in serious danger.

If this information means anything to you

Pleas send someone to #4 Privet Dr.

Little Whinging, Surrey

Signed,

Petunia Dursley

Hermione went pale and dropped the letter. Then, hoping it wasn't too late, picked up the phone and dialed the Weasly's number. 


	5. First Confrontation

 A/N: Sorry, it took me so long to update. I've had a bad case of writers block. Thanks for all the kind reviews. They were really encouraging. This one had me down for a while.

_Kaye: O K... i have one word for u, LONGER! They are way too short and they aren't even that exciting their so short! U need at least a page or more and if u need to c how u should write, like good writers here are some: Angelic candy and Full-Pensieve  
PLease consider these and have some more beatings and add the Order and everything!!_

Kaye: I appreciate you're input (despite the detestable use of chat speak) but I was really looking for thoughts on the storyline or tips to make it more interesting. (You know, "That was good" , "That sucked" and the like.) where as yours simply stated that I should change my own writing fashion to be more like "good authors". Angelic Candy and Full-Pensive are excellent, but they have their own style and I have mine. I know my chapters are rather short, but that's just how I write, so back off and get a hobby.

deep breath Okay, sorry about that. Now, for more of the story.

            Harry was standing in the middle of his cell. He'd decided that if any more death eaters returned to taunt him (which was more than likely) he wanted to face them standing up.

            Sure enough, after about an hour a small band of death eaters entered the chamber. Unfortunately, Harry idea did not go as planned, because as the last figure stepped inside his scar exploded with pain and he found himself, yet again lying on the floor and clutching his forehead.

            The chamber rang with the death eaters' laughter, but one laugh stood out from the rest. It was higher, colder, and as the pain in Harry's head subsided he realized who that laugh belonged to. Lord Voldemort.

            The death eaters on either side stepped back, creating a path as the dark wizard's tall form moved forward. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet, removing his hand from his brow, even though the soreness was far from gone.

At last he stood face to face with the abomination, who's pitiless red eyes reflected in the dim torchlight with a vindictive pleasure.

            "How kind of you to join us, Mr. Potter," the cruel voice sneered. "Why it's been, what, a whole to months since our last encounter? Much too long, don't you agree?" Harry clenched his teeth, refusing to give Voldemort the pleasure of hearing his reply. 

Voldemort however seemed unperturbed by Harry silence. He merely chuckled sadistically and said, "Lucius told me you were in something of a state when he came to greet you. From what I hear you behaved quite rudely. Not at all in the manner should one's guest conduct themselves." Harry recognized the attempt to provoke him and remained stolid.

Voldemort sighed theatrically and unsheathed his wand. "I think a lesson in manners would be appropriate at this time, don't you think, Lucius?"

The masked death eater on Voldemort's left nodded slightly and an indistinguishable murmur of excitement spread through the pack.

Voldemort smirked and uttered the dreaded word that caused intense agony to course throughout Harry's entire being and forced him to his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the nausea that threatened to overcome him.

At last, the pain decreased and he lifted his head to see Voldemort's reaction. The dark wizard loomed above him, a twisted smile playing about his lipless face.

"Bastard," Harry spat and let his head drop.

Voldemort frowned and crouched down until he and Harry were on the same level.

"You should be grateful, Potter", he hissed, grabbing Harry's face and forcing it up. 

The death eaters fell silent..  

Harry jerked away, angrily. "Grateful for what?"

"For allowing you to live this long."

in case any of you were wondering, Voldemort is obviously not effected by the shield spell.


	6. Note to Reveiwers

No this is not an update, and for that I am sorry if I got your hopes up. I just wanted thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed my story and let you know that I haven't quit the story I'm just suffering from severe writers block. The encouraging comments are really helpful and make me all fuzzy inside. The reason I joined this site was, because I wanted to here what other people thought of my writing. I know my chapters are pretty short, but I'm working on making them longer, just because I adore you all so much. (I swear they look longer on notebook paper.) I have part of the next chapter already, but I'm having trouble ending it. Oh and about Petunia, I took that one bit of understanding she showed Harry in OotP and blew all it out of proportion. Most of the time I try to keep everyone as in character as possible. Thank you again for your positive feedback. (If there's a problem though please feel free to point it out. I won't be offended so long as you're polite about it. coughStephenandKayecough) Don't give up on me yet!

-SpongeMonkey

P.S. For those of you who enjoy Harry-Torture there will be plenty. And due to request the next chappie contains the Order.


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